DavideZappacosta

BIOGRAPHY

The signing of Davide Zappacosta from Torino was completed on transfer deadline day, August 2017.

The Italian international, who can play at wing-back or full-back, signed a four-year deal at Stamford Bridge.

Zappacosta possesses a combination of defensive and attacking qualities and is a fine crosser of the ball from a wide-right position. His energy and stamina enable him to get forward for 90 minutes and recover quickly when defending. He is quick and composed in one-on-one situations and times his tackles well.

He began his career at Italian fourth-tier side Isola Liri. After signing for Atalanta in Serie A, he then enjoyed regular first team football with Avellino, who purchased co-ownership rights to the player. He returned to Atalanta and became a regular there in 2014/15, with his performances earning him a move to Torino, one of the historically most successful clubs in Italy.

An impressive season in Turin led to Antonio Conte calling up Zappacosta to the Italy national squad ahead of Euro 2016, and he was named on their back-up list for the tournament. He subsequently made his maiden international appearance during the 2016/17 season and had been capped four times by the Azzurri at the time of his Chelsea signing.

He quickly made an impact at Stamford Bridge. Having made his debut as a substitute in a win at Leicester in early September 2017, he scored a spectacular goal at home a few days later on his first start, finding the Qarabag net in the Champions League from out wide after a storming run down the wing.

Zappacosta continued to feature regularly as the season developed and filled in at left wing-back when Marcos Alonso was unavailable. He scored his first league goal for the Blues in a big win against Stoke City in our final game of 2017. He finished his first season in west London having made 35 appearances.

2018/19

Zappacosta's involvement during the 2018/19 campaign so far has been limited to the domestic cup competitions and Europa League, although the Italian has impressed when called upon due to his ability to get forward at pace and deliver dangerous balls from wide areas.

In the Carabao Cup win over Derby County, two of our three goals came from Zappacosta crosses, and it was another of his deliveries which led to Ruben Loftus-Cheek being brought down for a penalty during the FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest.

Used largely off the bench in the second half of the season, Zappacosta came on in the second leg of our Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, adding some much-needed energy to proceedings, and again in the final when the scoring was complete.